The FedNor funding will offer support for agri-food producers and entrepreneurs and help make full use of the commercial kitchen space at Harvest Algoma
By Kenneth Armstrong, SooToday
October 12, 2023
Federal funding was announced Thursday to help activate the commercial kitchen space at the Harvest Algoma Food Resource Centre on Second Line, just one week after it was taken over by the Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre and its Rural Agri-Innovation Network (RAIN) division.
The funding will offer supports for local agri-food producers and entrepreneurs, including mentorship, help with product development and the use of the Food Resource Centre’s commercial kitchen for testing and development.
The $450,000 in FedNor funding over the next three years was announced Thursday at the Food Resource Centre by MP Terry Sheehan.
Brittany Park has tapped into other RAIN funding streams when developing her business Bloom Kombucha. A nutritionist by trade, Park and her business partner have developed northern Ontario’s first kombucha distillery.
Kombucha is a tea-based fizzy fermented drink infused with flavourings that Park began to brew at home about five years ago. On hand at Thursday’s announcement were samples of Bloom’s blueberry maple and lavender mint flavours, as well as their newest flavour – orange chai.
As a nutritionist, Park often recommends probiotic foods like kombucha, sauerkraut and kimchi. Bloom Kombucha is made in relatively small batches with mostly local ingredients.
“Kombucha is something I see in stores with a lot of added sugar and other ingredients I didn’t love and didn’t want to recommend to my clients, bit I knew I could make it better,” she said. “I am hoping to continue to do that, I have more ideas for more flavours and would love to get some local farms involved.”
Bloom Kombucha has benefited from previous FedNor-supported funding streams through RAIN for product testing and development, as well as getting its facility up and running.
On Saturday, Park was set up as a vendor at Soo Market, where she sold almost 80 bottles of Bloom Kombucha in less than two hours.
Through the new funding, Bloom and other agri-food entrepreneurs will be able to get additional support and also support each other, said David Thompson, director of RAIN.
“Our hope is we can see about five [businesses] per year to go through it,” said Thompson of the new funding stream’s three-year lifespan. “Once you build that community they can share resources and start doing bulk purchasing together.”
The funding will also help Harvest Algoma to purchase some new equipment and make better use of its commercial kitchen, allowing agri-food producers and entrepreneurs the ability to use it for their own products.
A ceremony was held at the Harvest Algoma Food Resource Centre on Oct. 5, bringing together many of the partners that supported the program’s new future under RAIN’s leadership after its first five years in operation under United Way of Sault Ste. Marie and Algoma District.
–
View the original article on SooToday here.